Devotion
by Muffytaj
Summary: Obsession and devotion are twin emotions. Sakura is familiar with both. SakuIno
1. Sakura

**Devotion**

It used to be that everywhere that Ino went Sakura was sure to follow. When Ino went to the fields, Sakura would trail behind, blurting out everything and anything that she thought might entertain or impress her goddess friend. When Ino stayed indoors and looked after her parents' shop, Sakura danced among the trapped flowers, capering with her book-learnt knowledge of all things floral.

"And I looked up what you said about the cosmos, and then I found this scroll on lilies and so I looked into that as well and then-" Freed from the oppression of expectation, Sakura twirled around her celestial idol. She was but a pale imitation of Ino: she spoke like her and learnt her tricks, she stood behind her and practiced her smile and looked at boys only when they looked at Ino. And so many boys did, because Ino was perfect and kind and beautiful and strong and smart and pretty and smelled nice and sometimes let Sakura braid her short hair. And when they slept over at each others' houses and raided the old scrolls for horror stories sometimes Ino would have a nightmare about her parents dying and then Sakura got to hold her and comfort her and then Sakura _was_ Ino for a short dizzying time.

But by morning Ino was always back to being Ino, and Sakura was once again Sakura, following ever after. And slowly the other Sakura stared whispering discontent, and noticing every time Ino failed or fell or just wasn't perfect enough. And outer Sakura screamed back at inner Sakura, and told her how wonderful and perfect and lovely Ino was, and that she was everything Sakura wanted to be and was everything anyone wanted to be, and how she was so high above both inner and outer Sakura that…that…that….

'She will never see you eye to eye.' Inner Sakura finished. 'She will never acknowledge you as her equal.' And outer Sakura, sick with the weight of truth, knew that she was right.

And then she found out that Ino liked Sasuke.

Inner Sakura won that fight, and took outer Sakura to a bench and made her walk away from her blindingly beautiful light. Inner Sakura took her to the dark, ugly places where Sasuke and Naruto dwelt, and when the borrowed light of Ino ran out, dragged out the weaker light of Sakura. She burnt herself up, then found that there was more fuel underneath.

"I won't lose to you." She said to Ino, and knew what she had to do. Rather than drag her goddess down she would build herself up, and up, and up, until Ino would at last see her, eye to eye.


	2. Ino

Everywhere that Ino went, Sakura went harder. Ino had been the best kunoichi of her year, the most popular girl around, and one of the kindest people in the village. She had saved Sakura, and been strong enough to initially take charge of her team.

But Ino was, essentially, a fairly normal human being, and thus she was forever doomed to fall short of Sakura.

Sakura always ran at everything full tilt. And whilst she was running no one could catch up with her; her family had given up trying years ago, her remaining team mates could only stand back and watch, and her friends would forever be left swirling in the eddies. She charged into obstacles with a recklessness that should have broken her neck; confessing her love to an indifferent boy, standing up when she knew she could only lose, befriending the monster in the village's closet, and facing down demons.

And then she got serious.

Every day she was at Tsunade's bringing to dead to life, bringing death to the alive, before carefully dodging a legend's killer blows. She would meet up with Ino sometimes afterwards, body freshly patched together, and eagerly discuss the new technique she was working on. Ino would smile, and reply with the new outfit she had seen at the shops and would Sakura like to come shopping with her? Sakura laughed, and asked whether she would have complete freedom of movement in the outfit. Ino said no, but that she would look damn hot.

Ino won that argument, because Ino was still Ino, no matter how Sakuraish Sakura was.

For a while they were fairly even: Ino killed her first target before Sakura did, but Sakura killed three her first time. Ino got her first boyfriend before Sakura, but Sakura had a true love who she was working hard for every day. Sakura was made chuunin at the same time as Ino, but no one ever talked about Ino's match, whilst the pretty pink blur of death was well known.

Then Sakura overlapped her.

Sakura was the best kunoichi of their year, leaving Ino and Hinata behind in a trail of blood and sweat. Sakura knew more people than Ino could count, collecting their life-binding friendships as she came back from various missions. Sakura's obsession drove her ever onwards and once again Ino was left trailing behind. Sakura saved lives, and saved demons, and was recognised by the most elite ninjas from two villages.

Meanwhile Ino skulked around, spying and collecting information, making false friendships in order to get close to the targets, and never, ever being remembered.

And after it all, Sakura might shake and cry and her carefully sewn up body would fall apart, and then it was Ino who would pick her back up, with either hugs or pseudo-harsh words, and Sakura would either throw her arms around Ino's neck in a strangling hug, or plant her feet firmly and scream back, and even then Ino felt Sakura was more real than herself, because Sakura was going to be _remembered_ dammit, and she was going to get what she wanted, and she was going to make sure everyone knew not to get in her way.

Then, once she had cried her tears out, she would kiss Ino on the cheek and dance back off to the battlefield, to her brightly lit blood-red future.

And Ino would smile, and arrange the flowers in her mother's shop whilst thinking about what type of poison to use in her next recon mission, and tell herself that this was all she ever wanted.

And maybe, one day, if she said it enough times, she would believe it.


End file.
